Quote:
Originally Posted by macafee2
so you are saying that at 1 mile, if the sign shows lane one goes off then at 1 mile, lane 1 becomes a slip road, is that right? What about the white line markings between lane 1 and 2, if they do not differ between what was before and what is after the sign until about 300 yards from where lane one veers off, does that make a difference or will you still go by the sign?
macafee2
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Roadcraft, the Police bible has an acronym (sorry if this is teaching granny to suck eggs):
IPSGA
I - Information
P - Position
S - Speed
G - Gear
A - Accelerate
So, as soon as you see the "Information" in the road sign, that's then the time to plan a safe change to your position.
Information has sub layers: Take, Use, Give.
Take information in such as the road sign, traffic, what's behind you etc. etc.
Use that information to plan what you do next.
Give information out - such as indicators to give other road users information that you're wishing to change lanes.
Go back to Information.......
Information - Take (mirrors/shoulder check) - is there a suitable gap?
Information - Use - yes there's a gap
Information - Give - yes, my indicator is still on.
Position - plan to move across
Speed - does it need to change?
Gear - if speed needs to change then do I need a different gear?
Acceleration - or possibly deceleration - to safely change lanes.
Information - all OK for a safe and considerate lane change? Yes?
Position - change lanes
Speed - is it still appropriate - the earlier Information will have allowed you to assess the speed and flow of the traffic in the lane you're moving into and adjust yours accordingly.
Gear - is it still appropriate
Acceleration - needed? Or not?
Information - what's new? More signs, changes to the traffic flow etc. etc.
and so on........
This, obviously, takes massively longer to type and read than to do but I'm sure you get the idea.
The earlier you get the information the more time you have to plan and the better and less stressful your journey will be.
So, after all that, I'd be looking to change lanes as soon as safely possible after I'd seen the sign.
After all, everyone has seen the sign, so their use of Information would be something like.... There's a slip road coming up, so I need to be awake and alert to the possibility of other vehicles wishing to change lanes. Maybe it would be safe and sensible to create a bigger gap as I can see vehicles in that lane who might wish to change? Or maybe I can see a vehicle charging down Lane 3 with their left hand indicator on so perhaps they wish to use the slip road. Do I need to change speed to allow them a safer exit? Etc. Etc.